OK guys, I'm changing the layout of this post. I'm expanding past just random facts to do an "on this day" series using wikipedia for events, birthdays, and deaths. the posts will be mirrored at www.checklistcenter.com

Events1540 – Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason. Henry marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on the same day.1854 – USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy, is commissioned.1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, igniting World War I.1942 – World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a "shtrafbat" battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.2001 – Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships.2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign in Northern Ireland.

Events1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed. (This predates the Geneva Conventions)1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement. (Yes I was a scout when I was young)1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party. (later jailed)1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134. (Lt. Cmdr. John McCain was on the deck)1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the "Son of Sam") kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks. (Berkowitz is one of the most iconic serial killers in America)1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London. (Yay Lady Di, booo Camila)

Events1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council. (defenestration = throwing someone out a window)1608 – At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years. (Ooops)1932 – Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short. (Oooooh Colour...)1945 – World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen. (It had just dropped off Atomic Bomb parts, many died by shark attack...watch Jaws)1962 – The Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world, is officially opened. (Followed closely by a car full of kids asking "are we there yet?")1974 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States. ("I am not a crook")1974 – Six Canadian Army cadets are killed and fifty-four are injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp. (Live grenade in box of trainers)1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again. (Co-owns a diner with Elvis in Iowa)

Births1549 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (if you ever want to read some messed up stuff, check this dude out)1863 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (shoulda bought the extended warranty)1934 – Bud Selig, American businessman (the a**hole who got rid of my beloved Expos)1941 – Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor (weird story, he was performing in the USSR when Kennedy was shot, he was the one to tell the Soviet brass that the US President was dead)1947 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California (Tuma!!!!!)1956 – Réal Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player (as opposed to Fake Cloutier)1962 – Alton Brown, American chef, author, and producer (dude is cruel with his sabotages)1962 – Jay Feaster, American ice hockey player and manager (reminded me of Uncle Fester)1970 – Christopher Nolan, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter (Dark Knight Trilogy)

Events1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England (cue Simpsons reference)1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. (The Bloody Runs sounds like a serious problem)1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections. (Always remember that Hitler was elected)1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question." (The beginning of state run murder on a large scale)1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the ninth inning because of rain. (because all star games aren't boring enough a;ready)1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. (But why is the rum gone????!)1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. (Unfortunately both still have huge stocks)2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to brother Raúl Castro. (And somehow is still alive...as far as we know)2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics. (Celebrates with a bong hit?)

Deaths1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (Lincoln's VP)1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (2 Stanley cups with Montreal)2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (He was rowdy before rowdy was cool)

Events1800 – The Acts of Union 1800 is passed in which merges the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. (Irish weren't so happy about this)1831 – A new London Bridge opens. (No it didn't fall down)1834 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force. (America was a little late to the party on this one)1838 – Non-laborer slaves in most of the British Empire are emancipated.1840 – Laborer slaves in most of the British Empire are emancipated1914 – The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire at the opening of World War I. The Swiss Army mobilizes because of World War I. (Mobilized, but never used)1944 – World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland. (It fails and Warsaw is systematically wiped off the map1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. (now MTV is a joke)